GSIS to sell port area property for P20B

The state-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is selling a prime property within the Port Area in Manila for a minimum of P20 billion in what will be its biggest asset sale to date.

According to the GSIS, the largest of its idle assets up for disposition was made up of two lots measuring 672,645 and 109,212 square meters.

These lots are near the Manila North Harbor’s Pier Two as well as Negros Navigation’s ferry terminal in Tondo, Manila, according to the GSIS.

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“Although it tops our big-ticket assets, we are selling the Port Area property as it does not contribute to our operations except for valuation gains. And we expect to fetch a good price as it is situated in the Manila Bay area where properties have enjoyed 10-15 percent appraisal gains over the last five years,” GSIS president and general manager Jesus Clint O. Aranas said.

Aranas expressed confidence that the auction would be a success, noting that the Port of Manila Bay serves as the largest and the premier international shipping gateway to the country, which spells economic growth.

The last time the GSIS was able to successfully sell properties was in 2014, during which two prime lots in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) were bid out.

The GSIS sold to Goldenwill Inc. the 1,600-sqm Fort Bonifacio “7-3” lot located at 25th Street corner 6th Avenue for P732 million, 41-percent higher than the minimum bid price of P520 million or P325,000 a sqm. Also sold was the adjacent “7-4” lot, for which Focus Palantir Inc. had submitted a top offer of P800 million or P500,000 a sqm for the 1,600-sqm property located at the corner of 25th Street and 7th Avenue.

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